The Soldiers At My Front Door

[Malva Zebrina]

Published on Saturday, November 29, 2003 by CommonDreams.org
The Soldiers At My Front Door
by John Dear

<snip>
But I was surprised the following morning to hear 75 soldiers singing, shouting and screaming as they jogged down Main Street, passed our St. Joseph’s church, back and forth around town for an hour. It was 6 a.m., and they woke me up with their war slogans, chants like “Kill! Kill! Kill!” and “Swing your guns from left to right; we can kill those guys all night.”
Their chants were disturbing, but this is war. They have to psyche themselves up for the kill. They have to believe that flying off to some tiny, remote desert town in Iraq where they will march in front of someone’s house and kill poor young Iraqis has some greater meaning besides cold-blooded murder. Most of these young reservists have never left our town, and they need our support for the “unpleasant” task before them. I have been to Iraq, and led a delegation of Nobel Peace Prize winners to Baghdad in 1999, and I know that the people there are no different than the people here.

<snip>

I was astonished and appalled. I suddenly realized that I do not need to go to Iraq; the war had come to my front door. Later, I heard that they had deliberately decided to do their exercises in front of my house and our church because of my outspoken opposition to the war. They wanted to put me in my place.

<snip>
In the end, the episode for me was an experience of hope. We must be making a difference if the soldiers have to march at our front doors. That they failed to convert me or intimidate me, that they had to listen to my side of the story, may haunt their consciences as they travel to Iraq. No matter what happens, they have heard loud and clear the good news that God does not want them to kill anyone. I hope we can all learn the lesson.


http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1129-07.htm

I will write to Fr. Dear-his addy is at the bottom of the article.

[BeFree]

1. Wow. An experience of hope! So Ghandi like. Wow

[bobbieinok]

2. check out his website

http://www.johndear.org

[Malva Zebrina]

3. wonderful

the piece on Ghandi is superb. I do like the Jesuits and their approach. Fr. Dear is certainly an interesting pehnomena. And I am an atheist!